Biography

New York Times-best selling author Shannon Hale started writing books at age ten and never stopped, eventually earning an MFA in Creative Writing. After nineteen years of writing and many rejections, she published The Goose Girl, the first book in her award-winning Books of Bayern series. Since then, she has published over forty books for preschoolers, kids, teens, and adults, selling over fifteen million copies in North America and translated into dozens of languages.

Shannon’s books for young adults include the acclaimed fantasy Book of a Thousand Days, the sci-fi adventure Dangerous, and genre-bending comedy Kind of a Big Deal. Her books for middle grade readers include the Newbery Honor-winner Princess Academy and sequels, and the USA Today-bestselling Ever After High series.

With Caldecott-honoree LeUyen Pham, she created her award-winning graphic novel memoirs Real Friends, Best Friends, and Friends Forever and the bestselling Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn picture books. With director Jerusha Hess, Shannon co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of her novel Austenland. With her husband Dean Hale, Shannon co-wrote: Eisner-nominee Rapunzel’s Revenge and Calamity Jack (with Nathan Hale), two books about Marvel’s unbeatable super hero Squirrel Girl, DC’s Diana, Princess of the Amazons series (with Victoria Ying) and Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (with Asiah Fulmore), and the popular early chapter book series The Princess in Black (with LeUyen Pham).

Shannon is a renowned public speaker and advocate for gender equality. She and Dean live with their four children near Salt Lake City, Utah.